RikuvonDrake Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 It's insane. $11 to dye an armor slot black(single use only). $28 for a sword with a bugged sheathe. $38 for a pair of blasters with bugged holsters. $5-$20 armor sets, many bugged. $2-3 extra to unlock account-wide in collections. $1-2 to change your character's hair and other appearance options. Money, money, money. In other games, account-wide cosmetics/transmog are a default feature, and they apply to all armor, weapons, mounts, not just the ones from the in-game shop. And appearance changes cost the in-game currency(credits in SWTOR), not the shop currency you have to pay real money for. Crazed monetization is the only way to describe this. How is it insane? Loads of players seem to be perfectly fine spending their disposable income on those items considering how many CM items are on GTN, insanity would be for Bioware to maintain prices that nobody is willing to spend, if people are willing to pay then their prices are reasonable. Then on a personal level naturally players have a varied level of disposable income, and the cost of sub/cartel coins varies between countries to reflect the major differences. I think Russia is by far the cheapest for example, while western Europe and USA is higher. Not sure why you'd bring that up when you're the EA employee in this situation. I'm one of the frustrated gamers downvoting your comment. I see dignity in earning items through gameplay, as opposed to opening up one's wallet and receiving it instantly. I explained a middle ground that would be my ideal for monetizing games. As it should be. Though many CM sets are just reskins of armor that they removed from the game in patch 4.0 so as to make them unobtainable through gameplay, forcing players to pay money for them instead. I would say I am just a realist, Bioware and EA are companies operated to turn a profit and increase revenue, you seem to think about them as some type of charity organization, which feels a bit out of touch. Who's stopping them from doing what they want? I have opinions, but if players want to engage in unhealthy monetization practices and ensure their continued existence, have at it. To be clear, I'm not contesting the presence of MTX in SWTOR, only criticizing their price tags. reality stops them from doing what they want, they need to price cartel market items at a reasonable level so people continue to buy them, microtransactions are perfectly fine and the way that swtor is doing them seems to be working out well for both them and the players they are targeting. sure you can have personal opinions on the individual pieces, I get that and agree to an extent, but that's just your personal opinion based on disposable income/personal economy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixxieTriss Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 and the cost of sub/cartel coins varies between countries to reflect the major differences. I think Russia is by far the cheapest for example, while western Europe and USA is higher. Just wanted to point out this isn’t precisely accurate or a “perfect” setup if you aren’t in the EU or US. Ie, there are currently only 2 currencies for players outside of the US or EU and that is US dollars or the Euro. So if your national currency doesn’t have a great exchange rate with those currencies or your income value is different then you can be paying a hell of a lot more. Being Australian means converting to US because we can no longer pay in AUS dollars since they removed the APAC servers. So my sub per month can be between $20-$24 AU a month and obviously CM items are also much more too. But Australian incomes have actually been declining vs inflation over the last 12 years and the Aussie dollar has gone from $1.40 US 8-9 years ago to as low as $0.63 US earlier this year. If “all” players could pay for a sub and CC based on their regions main currencies, this would be less of a problem for some of us. But as they are now, the majority of the CM items are extremely over priced for anyone not earning USD or EUROS and not living in those regions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drenovade Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 (edited) How is it insane? Loads of players seem to be perfectly fine spending their disposable income on those items considering how many CM items are on GTN, insanity would be for Bioware to maintain prices that nobody is willing to spend, if people are willing to pay then their prices are reasonable. Then on a personal level naturally players have a varied level of disposable income, and the cost of sub/cartel coins varies between countries to reflect the major differences. I think Russia is by far the cheapest for example, while western Europe and USA is higher. Yeah, lots of players are okay with getting ripped off. That's what allows these kinds of monetizations to continue. The fact that some players pay these prices doesn't make them reasonable, it only shows how far the gaming community has fallen, and what some are willing to put up with to gratify themselves. Hence, I'm making my case here. Glad to say this sentiment is becoming more and more popular, as the many PR nightmares involving this subject in recent years can attest to. This growing viewpoint is why they reformatted the CM around direct purchases, and pushed loot boxes off to the side. Bad monetizations will only persist if players put up with them. I would say I am just a realist, Bioware and EA are companies operated to turn a profit and increase revenue, you seem to think about them as some type of charity organization, which feels a bit out of touch. I don't know. You wouldn't be the first player to defend their beloved game to such a point it causes one to be blind to reason. If you think these items, many of which are bugged, being sold at extravagant prices are perfectly fair and reasonable from both a monetary and customer service perspective, then I can only assume that is the case. It's not just overattachment to a game that does this to players though. Loot boxes and MTX are designed to warp your mind into spending money irresponsibly. These monetizations capitalize on gambling addictions and a need for instant gratification. Trying to reason with affected players results in the same type of responses. "You're just being cheap." "They have to make a profit somehow." "I'll do what I want with my own money." That's the gaming industry of today, and what we should be trying to move away from. Edited October 15, 2021 by Drenovade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JediQuaker Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 (edited) If “all” players could pay for a sub and CC based on their regions main currencies, this would be less of a problem for some of us. But as they are now, the majority of the CM items are extremely over priced for anyone not earning USD or EUROS and not living in those regions. Trixxie, as someone who plays the GTN market, I'd have thought you'd have a better grasp on exchange rate. But basically, theoretically, $20-24 AUS should be about the same financial burden for an Aussie as $15 US is for an American, or $22 CDN for me. Think of it this way - theoretically**, a person working at McD's in the US may make $10/hr US, while an equivalent worker in Australia makes $15/hr AUS - thusly, an American is going to want $15 AUS in exchange for their $10 US in order to perceive the same "value". If you could pay for your sub in your local currency, it would still be $20-$24 AUS, minus a bit for exchange fees. It wouldn't suddenly become $15 AUS. 🤔 ** your experience may vary. 🙂 Edited October 17, 2021 by JediQuaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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